What is this wart like swelling in my throat? (photo)

Doctor's Answer

In your photos, there appears to be a small swelling on your right tonsil. It looks like it is probably benign although the only definitive way to tell for sure is to remove it and send it off for analysis. This is even more important if you smoke.

HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), of which there are 4 subtypes which are usually sexually transmitted, may cause warts or papillomas, or even more worrying conditions like cancer but there is no way to say for sure that HPV is the cause of this swelling unless we remove it and run some tests.

I think that the areas around your tonsils also look reddish with tiny whitish spots which may be signs of previous chronic tonsil infection. It is quite common to find whitish spots due to solidified secretions from the tonsil glands, tonsil stones or tonsil cysts if you have suffered previous attacks of tonsillitis before.

Hope you manage to sort it out soon.

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